The fourth edition of the India Art Festival (IAF) saw a host of new talent being showcased at the Nehru Centre in Mumbai. As its founder and managing director Rajendra said in his message, “IAF, the only art fair that brings together major art galleries and individual artists across the globe under one roof, has grown in size and scale since its first edition in 2011.” Verve, the lifestyle magazine partner, continued to show its never-ending support and appreciation for the contemporary art fair.

Among all the art at the venue, some creations caught one’s eye. New Delhi’s Adhunik Art Gallery showcased some splendid works. Kalpana Ved’s Angel, a creation of charcoal on paper; Matthew Kuzhippallil’s A City is Born; Madhushree Bansal’s Barahmasah; and Sandeep Ashar’s Nirwana were among the artworks that attracted attention. Forum Art Gallery from Chennai had on display a quirky and modern Krishna by Biswajit Balasubramanian, a piece of art made from painted fibre glass; a Secret Pillow Series (acrylic on canvas) by B O Shailesh; Hanuman (also acrylic on canvas) by M Senathipathi; and many more noteworthy collectibles.

Festivals came to life at the Art Nouveau booth from Gurgaon, with Subrata Gangopadhyay’s Dance Festival and Kishore Roy’s Raas among the other masterpieces. At the same booth, Rita Jhunjhunwala’s Sunset Tale — a set of three pieces painted with acrylic on canvas — pictured a beautiful sunset in several stages. Bengaluru’s Savi3 Studio Gallery showcased a collection by Sujith Kumar G S Mandya which portrayed various canvas drawings of bulls, created with pigments like oil paints and charcoal. Aarti Zaveri’s Enso Moment of Love, a mixed media creation, was a popular attraction while J P Singhal’s Sarangiwala made a great impact, showing the artist’s attention to detail.

A series of IAF conversations brought together well-known personalities from the various fields of modern-day art. Artists, architects, historians, museum experts, gallerists, editors, publishers and organisers came together and gave audiences a profound understanding of art, from their experiences garnered over the years. Taking inspiration from an essay by Ananda K Coomaraswamy, one discussion focused on why exhibitions and exhibitors are necessary for the art field. The talk on how various exhibits are put together on such a grand scale was also a topic of great interest.

The team on the inaugural day included cultural theorist Nancy Adajania; artist Sudhir Patwardhan; photographer Ram Rahman; and art historian Mortimer Chatterjee. The next session for the day took off with a more architectural view with editor of Tekton, Smita Dalvi; architect Kaiwan Mehta; professor Y D Pitkar; and poet Mustansir Dalvi serving as the second panel.

The third day of the IAF had more conversations scheduled with eminent people from the arts field coming together. Curator Ranjit Hoskote; playwright Gieve Patel; artist Dilip Ranade; and head of art conservation at CSMVS Anupam Sah spoke about the intricate processes of the mind and soul that go into the creation of artistic masterpieces. The last panel saw some prominent names of the industry in attendance: theatre person Sameera Iyengar; founder of Cymroza Art Gallery Pheroza Godrej; theatre director Ramu Ramanathan; and co-founder of Clark House Initiative Sumesh Sharma, who spoke about the various processes of art and how artists communicate on different levels to create, promote and expand their work.

The closing ceremony brought to an end the four-day event that saw some more speakers and artists from across the country come together to celebrate the world of art.